bird photo general chat thread

This is intended to be a thread in which we can talk about various things that pop up during our bird photography endeavors, but things that we don't necessarily want to start a new thread for.

We can use this thread to ask questions, and also to share what it is that we're working on, so far as bird opportunities are concerned. I especially encourage the sharing of techniques that we are using to get close to the birds we photograph, or techniques we are using to find birds, or sharing locations that we visited and had success at.

Let's try to keep discussion of gear and settings to a minimum - there are already a gazillion threads about those things.

Also, if you do have a need to share a photo here, let's keep it relatively small, as this is in the "Discussion" part of the forum, and not the "Image Sharing" section. I don't want the pages here to take a long time loading, and smaller images will really help with that.

I look forward to seeing what you have to share!

Yey Tom, you made us a bar!

[QUOTE=Tom Reichner;16947149]This is intended to be a thread in which we can talk about various things that pop up during our bird photography endeavors..../quote]

I'm confused - isn't that the whole purpose of this "Bird Talk forum?

[QUOTE=teekay;16948768​]

Tom Reichner wrote in post #16947149
This is intended to be a thread in which we can talk about various things that pop up during our bird photography endeavors..../quote]

I'm confused - isn't that the whole purpose of this "Bird Talk forum?

Teekay,

I'm sorry that you are confused. You quoted me, but left off the end of the sentence I wrote:

Tom Reichner wrote in post #16947149
This is intended to be a thread in which we can talk about various things that pop up during our bird photography endeavors, but things that we don't necessarily want to start a new thread for.

There is a thread that covers the same things that I'd like to see discussed here - https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=518554 - but for some unknown reason, that thread was closed and locked it down, so that no one is able to discuss things there in that thread anymore. That is one reason this thread has been started.


So, yes, Teekay, bird photography chat is the whole purpose of the Bird Talk Forum, and this thread is one of the means by which that purpose will be facilitated.

The idea for this thread seemed to garner support, and I was encouraged to start the thread. Here is another thread in which others expressed interest in a thread such as this, and in which the other thread (linked to above) was mentioned (the thread that is sadly locked and closed):https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1377475

In an effort to actually generate some discussion and chat about bird photography, I will share what I have been up to this week:

This is the time of year in which I look for cavity nests. Most cavity-neting birds in my area have chosen nest sites, but have not begun laying eggs yet. So, I have to be careful not to spook them away from their chosen nest sites, because they are not really all that committed to them at this point, and if there is much human disturbance around the nest tree, they will readily abandon the site and find another tree elsewhere.

Yesterday I went to a tree that a pair of Williamson's Sapsuckers nested in last year. I was hoping they would nest there again this year. After a half hour of waiting and watching, I saw the female! She landed on the tree, but did not go into the nest hole, probably because I was there and she didn't want to give it away. I promptly left. In about three weeks, she should have eggs, and be completely committed to the location. That's when I plan to go back and photograph the birds at the nest.

This will be a nice thread Tom and will be interesting reading what others are doing and how they make plans.
I did not take my camera today and of course missed two opportunities.
I've been in the process of improving Wildlife habitat on our personal property for about 10 years, we have set aside 45 acres of forested land and about 10 acres of open range land.Also have planted many trees, shrubs and completed Timber Stand Improvement on 25 acres.
This evening while taking a much needed break from 8 hours of mowing I saw 2 Cedar Waxwings, first ones I had seen on my farm in 30 years. A Baltimore Oriole then flew in behind them and they are not plentiful here either. As I left the East farm to drive home a male Bobwhite Quail flew across the road into my hay field. The Quail was once a very numerous bird here in the 60's and 70's but is a very rare sight to see these days.
The yard was packed with all my other regular birds, Bluebirds, Robins, Woodpeckers, Titmouse,Cowbirds. A deer drank from my pond then ran across the yard at one point, it was great to see all the birds enjoying the fruits of my labor. All I ask from them in return is some good singing and allow me to shoot them with my Canon.

Here's a general question for ya: eBird lists all the species seen at various major cities with records going back into the mid 1800's. Some list the Passenger Pigeon, some do not. Should they? (I think so). Thoughts?

My latest and dull as ever news...

Was out trying to shoot owls, was surprised yet again by the change in weather, from tshirt to too cold to hold the lens in 20 minutes.
Now whilst admonishing myself for apparent lack of skills handholding *shivers*(oh my, am I really going to take my half century arse to a gym?!), I ponder the "greater adventure".

To that, if I want to shoot in this area, I think I will need to camp out (less of the Graham Norton there if you don't mind!:P).
Struggling with rucksack, camera storage, jeez even tent and sleeping bag!

Ahh, just remembered, Tour De France is passing here too soon!
Not exactly birds, but I think Tom gets that last one

Biffbradford wrote in post #16950036
Here's a general question for ya: eBird lists all the species seen at various major cities with records going back into the mid 1800's. Some list the Passenger Pigeon, some do not. Should they? (I think so). Thoughts?

Seems like a good idea to list them, provided the listers have an actual "confirmed sighting" to list.

I think it would serve as a good reminder that not every species will last forever, and that we should not take any species for granted.

Foggiest wrote in post #16950429
My latest and dull as ever news...

Was out trying to shoot owls, was surprised yet again by the change in weather, from tshirt to too cold to hold the lens in 20 minutes.
Now whilst admonishing myself for apparent lack of skills handholding *shivers*(oh my, am I really going to take my half century arse to a gym?!), I ponder the "greater adventure".

To that, if I want to shoot in this area, I think I will need to camp out (less of the Graham Norton there if you don't mind!:P).
Struggling with rucksack, camera storage, jeez even tent and sleeping bag!

Ahh, just remembered, Tour De France is passing here too soon!
Not exactly birds, but I think Tom gets that last one

Ahhh, yes . . . camping out all night in order to be there to get the shot in the morning. Definitely hard-core, but the comfort sacrificed can be well worth the effort.

Grizz1 wrote in post #16949958
This will be a nice thread Tom and will be interesting reading what others are doing and how they make plans.
I did not take my camera today and of course missed two opportunities.
I've been in the process of improving Wildlife habitat on our personal property for about 10 years, we have set aside 45 acres of forested land and about 10 acres of open range land.Also have planted many trees, shrubs and completed Timber Stand Improvement on 25 acres.
This evening while taking a much needed break from 8 hours of mowing I saw 2 Cedar Waxwings, first ones I had seen on my farm in 30 years. A Baltimore Oriole then flew in behind them and they are not plentiful here either. As I left the East farm to drive home a male Bobwhite Quail flew across the road into my hay field. The Quail was once a very numerous bird here in the 60's and 70's but is a very rare sight to see these days.
The yard was packed with all my other regular birds, Bluebirds, Robins, Woodpeckers, Titmouse,Cowbirds. A deer drank from my pond then ran across the yard at one point, it was great to see all the birds enjoying the fruits of my labor. All I ask from them in return is some good singing and allow me to shoot them with my Canon.

That's good stuff, Steve! Heck, I have never even seen a Bobwhite Quail in the wild, and, as you say, they used to be very commonplace, especially throughout much of the southeastern US.

As far as your woodlot conservation project is concerned, one thing I have noticed is that trees are often of the greatest use to birds after they have died. Once they die and start to decay, gazillions of insects take up residence. Then a lot of birds come to the dead tree to feed on the insects. And then after a few more years of decay, holes start to develop, and these holes provide great nests for a variety of species.

Many of the folks who live in my area think there is no harm in cutting down a tree if the tree is already dead, when in fact the dead tree is probably doing more good for birds and wildlife than any of the living trees.

Are there any noteworthy dead trees - a.k.a. "snags" - on your timber stand?

Tom, the answer to your dead tree, "snag", question is Yes. We are trying to leave as many as we can and they are providing a lot of cavity nesting birds nice homes and food sources.
We have 6 species of Woodpeckers, 5 of which are very numerous, the Pileated being the less seen and so far I've not seen a nesting site for the Pileated.

Our program involved ongoing meetings and approval from a Forester from the Missouri Dept of Conservation. We still stay in contact and discuss my project and others that I'm working with and on.
We started with 45 acres of Forest but sectioned it off into 6 unequal sections and then only cut and killed trees on one section per year so that there was a slow progression in the changing habitat. The largest section was the first, 13 acres in size and the most drastic cut. I fell many trees in this section, mostly Hickory and cut them for firewood. We left any trees with known cavities, killed some and left to stand. The Hickory was mostly removed as it's life even as a dead tree is only about 3 years, they simply melt with decay. I like leaving dead White Oak, Mulberry, Locust, Elm, especially Red Elm, and even Cottonwood as it seems they last a long time and with stand some severe weather.

The first and second cutting are now growing young trees in the understory, some are 6 feet tall, the less crowded trees are growing faster and produce more acorns as they have more top canopy developed now. We have many Black Berries, Goose Berries and Wild Raspberry that have filled in where the sunlight hits the ground.
Our plan was intended to mainly provide the best habitat for White Tailed Deer and the Eastern Wild Turkey and all other birds and small animals were to follow. I'm happy to say it is working well.

Now that the spring shorebird migration has ended for the Oregon Coast, I have gone back to the drawing board in my never ending saga of designing the perfect sliding ground pod

My current goal is to get the bottom of the lens hood to less than an inch from the ground, as if I was hand holding the lens.

Slightly related, I'm also trying to figure out how not to get neck kinks from being in the belly crawling position for over an hour straight. Suggestions welcome!
--
Just received the second addition of the Sibley's Guide to Birds. After looking through the guide for over an hour, I have come to the conclusion that the paintings are accurate. Unlike some who have stated that they think that the paintings are over saturated or too dark. In my opinion, Sibley has taken a different approach with these new paintings and increased the color contrast. It makes the birds look either too dark or too brightly colored with a quick glance, but looking more closely, detail is obvious.

However, I do agree that the writing is too small, and difficult to read. I myself do not have a problem, as I have excellent vision, but both of my parents had difficulty reading without glasses and bright light.

I heard of someone using a large frying pan for the job Evan!

Neck kinks sound like the leg and toe cramps that I get, get settled and stealthy, then ouch! ouch!

Evan wrote in post #16953110
Slightly related, I'm also trying to figure out how not to get neck kinks from being in the belly crawling position for over an hour straight. Suggestions welcome!

I've got one of the 90 degrees Canon viewfinder attachments, but somebody really needs to come up with a 45 degree one.

Evan,
Take up road cycling.
We are in that "looking up" position for hours at a time. It really gets your neck in shape for that position
and you get in great shape too.